AR 2ax Scroe!!!! (NOT)
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-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
An now for the inner ugliness
AR guts? No! All Realistic Goodness!
Sigh.....
Oh well. Looks like I have a nice set of cabs, a single AR mid and the crossovers. The pots seems a bit "sporatic" but that is to be expected. Others have blazed the trail on how to clean and refurbish these.
I guess for the price, not too bad. Just gotta start collecting AR parts now.
AR guts? No! All Realistic Goodness!
Sigh.....
Oh well. Looks like I have a nice set of cabs, a single AR mid and the crossovers. The pots seems a bit "sporatic" but that is to be expected. Others have blazed the trail on how to clean and refurbish these.
I guess for the price, not too bad. Just gotta start collecting AR parts now.
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-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
Yeah, I think I did OK. I hope to find parts to rebuild since the cabs are so nice.
I have read that production changes at various points so I was wondering if anyone could date my pair based on the numbers on the back placard. They are:
"AX" Number:
244568
238098
"EIA" Number
5617340
5617350
Based on these numbers, which woofers (treated cloth or foam) should I be looking for and also which tweeters (red center or black center)?
This is my first foray into AR-Land... anything else I need to be aware of about the 2ax's??
Thanks all!
I have read that production changes at various points so I was wondering if anyone could date my pair based on the numbers on the back placard. They are:
"AX" Number:
244568
238098
"EIA" Number
5617340
5617350
Based on these numbers, which woofers (treated cloth or foam) should I be looking for and also which tweeters (red center or black center)?
This is my first foray into AR-Land... anything else I need to be aware of about the 2ax's??
Thanks all!
The manufacture dates are late 1973 (40th and 50th weeks respectively). The tweeters would have been the 3/4" black dome version, and the woofers were the standard 10 inch AR woofer with foam surrounds. Check the dcr of your remaining AR mid, as there are a couple of versions, 6 and 9 ohm. If the mid measures 6 ohms, the woofers would have had alnico magnets. If it measures 9 ohms, the woofers would have had square ceramic magnets.
The crossover in each cabinet would have been an AR #7 (1.88mh) inductor for the woofer, a 6uf cap for the mid, and a 4uf cap for the tweeter...and two troublesome level controls (15 ohm potentiometers).
Roy
MexicoMiike
Active Member
Cool! 2Axs were my first "good" speaker. I burned out 3 tweeters during the time I owned them - all replaced free by AR, including shipping the speaker to/from Cambridge, MA! No company would offer such a warranty today. 
The burnouts were all my own fault, trying to drive them to "rock concert" levels with my 40W (IHF) Fisher tube amp (kit) and clipping in a major way. Hey, I was in college then, what did I know?
The burnouts were all my own fault, trying to drive them to "rock concert" levels with my 40W (IHF) Fisher tube amp (kit) and clipping in a major way. Hey, I was in college then, what did I know?
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
You knew it sounded better LOUD
What a wonderful time when manufactures would offer such support to customers.
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
RoyC. Thanks so much for the information. That looks like about all I need to know. I will pull the AR mid and get a dcr reading for the final piece of the puzzle.
Thanks again!
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
Is there any way to tell based on these picture if I have the 6 ohm or 9 ohm midrange? If need be, I'll un-solder and take readings.
The resistors mounted to the back of the magnet is something I am not seeing in a web search of AR 2ax mids. Are these supposed to be there or not???
The resistors mounted to the back of the magnet is something I am not seeing in a web search of AR 2ax mids. Are these supposed to be there or not???
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The resistors mean you have the earlier, lower impedance mids...with added resistance. I would look for a couple of earlier woofers with alnico magnets and remove the resistors.
Roy
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
AR 2ax Rebuild Status
In the past month I have managed to acquire a second AR mid and 2 AR woofers. For the tweeters, I decided to keep looking for original AR black domes but in the meantime, use RoyC's recommendation of the HiVi Q1R's with the additional inductor. (thanks for your work on this RoyC)
While accumulating parts, I took the opportunity to work on the cosmetics - mainly sanding and refinishing the cabs. I took them down with 100, 200 and then 400 grit, followed by 6 coats of Danish Oil. Between each coat, they got a full rub-down with 000 Steel Wool. They are very nice now. Smooooth!
I also replaced the grill cloth, but I am not totally satisfied with the material. I chose an open weave, off-white cloth that more resembles a burlap than the original AR material. I had it leftover from a previous project so it was only an investment of time and a few staples. While not perfect, they are a far cry better than the stained, yellowing original cloth I removed. If I ever find something more appropriate (and within budget) locally, I may redo these to get closer to the original AR "look".
Last night, I had a chance to get everything installed and gave them a quick test-run and hit a brick wall immediately! The pots are shot although they look pristine.
I am surprised at this. They looked great when I got them and I went through the long process of soaking, polishing and otherwise restoring them anyways. Unfortunately, they are horrible. Usually you will have a bad spot on the pot setting that will drop-out - mine seem to only have a spot or two that will allow signal to pass. I may revisit this later but for now, the pots are by-passed.
Ran out of time last night but I hope to bring them into the listening space in the next couple of days to do a proper audition. Just laying there on the bench, I like what I heard!
And before you say it...
:worthless
I'll get some up soon :thmbsp:
In the past month I have managed to acquire a second AR mid and 2 AR woofers. For the tweeters, I decided to keep looking for original AR black domes but in the meantime, use RoyC's recommendation of the HiVi Q1R's with the additional inductor. (thanks for your work on this RoyC)
While accumulating parts, I took the opportunity to work on the cosmetics - mainly sanding and refinishing the cabs. I took them down with 100, 200 and then 400 grit, followed by 6 coats of Danish Oil. Between each coat, they got a full rub-down with 000 Steel Wool. They are very nice now. Smooooth!
I also replaced the grill cloth, but I am not totally satisfied with the material. I chose an open weave, off-white cloth that more resembles a burlap than the original AR material. I had it leftover from a previous project so it was only an investment of time and a few staples. While not perfect, they are a far cry better than the stained, yellowing original cloth I removed. If I ever find something more appropriate (and within budget) locally, I may redo these to get closer to the original AR "look".
Last night, I had a chance to get everything installed and gave them a quick test-run and hit a brick wall immediately! The pots are shot although they look pristine.
I am surprised at this. They looked great when I got them and I went through the long process of soaking, polishing and otherwise restoring them anyways. Unfortunately, they are horrible. Usually you will have a bad spot on the pot setting that will drop-out - mine seem to only have a spot or two that will allow signal to pass. I may revisit this later but for now, the pots are by-passed.
Ran out of time last night but I hope to bring them into the listening space in the next couple of days to do a proper audition. Just laying there on the bench, I like what I heard!
And before you say it...
:worthless
I'll get some up soon :thmbsp:
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
Man, those look great, and I totally love the idea of playing Duke Ellington thru a Scott tube amp - - that's my kind of listening, too! :thmbsp:
Sorry to hear about the stubborn pots, though, 'cause it's really nice to have the option to adjust the tweet and mid output with your particular listening space and preference. So, did you just hardwire them in the full output mode? Also, I didn't see any mention about the crossover capacitors - - normally, these waxy block types have drifted from their original intended values and the speaker performance would really benefit from replacement with new caps.
Great job on scavenging the necessary parts and putting it all back together.
Sorry to hear about the stubborn pots, though, 'cause it's really nice to have the option to adjust the tweet and mid output with your particular listening space and preference. So, did you just hardwire them in the full output mode? Also, I didn't see any mention about the crossover capacitors - - normally, these waxy block types have drifted from their original intended values and the speaker performance would really benefit from replacement with new caps.
Great job on scavenging the necessary parts and putting it all back together.
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
Thanks ra.ra!
I likely have more in them than I will ever get out, especially considering the pots and non-AR tweets. But I had fun doing the project AND they sound nice. That's what it's all about anyways, right?
The pots are still in circuit to provide the proper resistance. The output wire is moved to the input terminal so you end up with it the same signal you would have it the pot were fully open. I too wish there was some control. The mid is a little much for the room they are in. I may put in a resistor to attenuate them a bit.
In the crossover, I pulled the wax-block caps and disassembled them so as to saved the outer box. I put new Dayton poly's in the original location and hot-melt glued the box back on top. It looks factory. The originals had drifted a bit. The 6uf caps read 7.78 and 7.75. The 4uf caps read 5.08 and 5.28. Not horrible considering 40 years old and tolerance was probably 20% back then.
-reverb-
Buying, selling... mainly buying
Thanks tonyk. These are making me want to climb the AR ladder :thmbsp:
michiganpat
Super Member
I had bought a set of empty 2ax cabinets probably about 5-6 years ago. I had foolishly sold the pots when I was planning on building a DIY 3 way out of them, when I stumbled across some OEM woofs and mids for a decent price. I ended up using 8 ohm L pads wired per the AR3a restoration guide, and they worked out quite well. that might be another option to consider vs. the like $40 each new ohmite pots go for.